Director: Paul Crowder
Stars: Brian Allendorfer, Bobby Speed Baldock, Bryon Beck
Synopsis: Follows the veterans and newest class of Navy and Marine Corps flight squadron as they go through intense training and into a season of heart-stopping aerial artistry.
If you’ve ever felt the need—you know, the need for speed—then the new documentary feature, The Blue Angels, is the movie experience you’ve been clamoring for! Filled with jaw-dropping visuals and artistry, this Prime Video film is like no other on the subject you’ve ever seen before. However, perhaps what Paul Crowder’s film does best is capture the poetry of the matter when it comes to these performers’ journeys through boundless baby blue skies in the hopes of touching God and the hearts of those below.
From producer Glen Powell, director Paul Crowder, an award-winning editor of such acclaimed documentaries as Dogtown and Z-Boys, and The Beatles: Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years, take on a new challenge with The Blue Angels. This isn’t exactly familiar territory for the filmmaker, whose best work has often involved rebels, like Riding Giants, a film about a skateboarder turned surfer conquering waves the size of small buildings. As Crowder transitions from the depths of empty pools in Santa Monica and Venice Beach to the peaks of foamy waves, it’s only natural that the lens of his camera continues to reach skyward.
While some may view The Blue Angels as a political stunt for military recruiting, even the staunchest skeptics are likely to be captivated by the film, not to mention a live demonstration. The group has been thrilling audiences for nearly a century. This documentary follows veterans and recruits of the Navy’s Elite Flight Demonstration Squadron. Where dramatized films like Top Gun: Maverick or limited series like Band of Brothers depict the grueling nature of forming such a unit, Crowder immerses the viewer in the trainees’ experiences through grueling training, protocols, and testing that are eye-opening.
When you combine these scenes with jaw-dropping aerial stunts, The Blue Angels takes on an arm-rest-grabbing thriller quality that’s thrilling and hard to shake with its g-force grip. I was given a screener for the Prime Video documentary, but considering what I saw on television, I went to see the film in IMAX for a second viewing. The IMAX technology is a game changer for Crowder’s film. The film is simply spectacular in its elevated format. Yes, I will use the same tired cliché every critic churns out in hopes of getting a quote on a poster or BluRay jacket: You need to see this film on the biggest screen possible. The experience is guaranteed to make the hair stand up on your neck.
And much of that credit should go to the cinematography team, including Lance Benson, Michael Fitz Maurice, and Jessica Young. Along with the courageous determination of the camera operators (something I have come to appreciate more after The Fall Guy, for what that is worth) gives Crowder’s immersive experience its poetry in motion, lyrical, endearing feel. Along with the character study of pilots such as Brian Allendorfer, Bobby Speed Baldock, Bryon Beck, and Lance Benson, along with the hundreds of crew members on the ground, the film takes time to give you a glimpse of their hard work, make The Blue Angels a community experience and the power of teamwork.
Simply put, go for the breathtaking, spectacular, and adrenaline-pumping visuals and stay for the lessons The Blue Angels teaches cinephiles of all ages.
